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Tuesday, 5 January 2016

A Get Up And Go Attitude

I've pretty much always considered myself a morning person. By that I mean that it doesn't take me at least an hour to be able to engage in a somewhat polite way with people. Once I've given myself roughly 5 minutes to comes too it doesn't really matter that it may be 7am rather than 10am, I'm ready to rumble. Saying that for some reason I always find week days harder than weekends to get it going, isn't it always the way!

These last few days though I've been doing something pretty crazy....wait for it....I've been going to the gym at 6.45! You're probably thinking big deal, blah blah blah, but do you know what?! I get up and get my arse there and when I'm walking out the door to carry on with the rest of my day I feel pretty damn proud of myself. Not only that but what they say is true, by doing more exercise you really do get more energy. I'm no longer wanting to go to bed at 8pm, I'm not lethargic in the day. I swapped going to bed early, for reading, and feeling fuzzy and lazy to feeling crazy focused. I've always known that exercise and routine were good for your mind but too often I chosen to ignore that. I may not be already feeling the physical benefits of my early morning routine but I'm certainly reaping the benefits mentally.

But I'm not writing this to do the whole 'look at me, I'm so great thing'. No, what I really wanted to do was give some of you who may have, like me, always wanted to get your ass to the gym early before work, some little tips and tricks which I am finding really useful in making leaving the coziness off bed that little bit easier.

My morning essentials

Preparation

Fail to prepare, prepare to fail...yada yada yada BUT it's true. I haven't quite got the prep thing down to a T myself, as I usually forget at least one item of clothing (Monday I was bra-less, the shock and horror, I had to rush home) but I'm trying. I prep everything from my outfit for the following day (trying to remember the underwear), to packing up my lunch ready to go, to getting my water bottle ready and waiting to even parking my car in the right direction so that it's easy to leave first thing. All these things mean I don't have to rush around in a panic in the morning.

Fuel up

I know some people are in to fasting workouts but to be honest every time I have attempted I have been more than rubbish and at times come close to passing out in a crumpled mess on the floor. So now I set my alarm that little bit earlier to get in my pint of water, coffee and porridge ready for a good workout. Porridge keeps you fueled through your workout by releasing slow releasing sugars and the coffee gives the extra energy and is said to have weightloss benefits before workouts.Choose the right tunes

This goes for your alarm tone too! I have a really aggressive alarm tone and switch it up regularly so that I'm almost startled into waking up. Sounds horrible right? But it works for me. From that moment on I then play my Spotify playlists to find the right soundtrack to get me motivated for the morning ahead. Change it regularly and set the tone for the rest of your day.

Lighting is everything

Yeah OK lighting can make a huge difference to you if your taking pictures and you don't want to show your increasingly aging face, and dark circles (is it just me?) but it also can play a huge part in how you wake up. If you try to let as much natural light in your room when you first wake up it helps get everything going. Even better is if you can wake up due to natural light, but the mornings aren't quite there yet. Philips do some great alarm lamps to help you wake in the morning and my sister finds hers really useful.All the gear, some idea
Getting up and going to the gym is hard enough so make it easier on yourself by having the right kit you need to make your work out worth it. I'm not saying go out and spend shed loads on fancy new neon print everything! But I can't be the only one who thinks that by having the right kit you feel comfortable and sassy in it helps you workout that little bit harder. Bare in mind your kit is going to be in the wash a lot so choose quality stuff that will tolerate what it will go through but make sure you also have enough to see you through a weeks worth of workouts.

Berocca
Once I get into work I have a Berocca. Touch wood these seem to do what they should and have worked in keeping the bugs at bay and energy levels up recently.

Wow that was a long post, but one I actually enjoyed writing. I'm not saying I'm a completely changed woman, far from it, but I much prefer getting my new routine out the way in the morning so that I can go home guilt free in the evenings and watch my favourite Netflix series whilst not having to feel guilty about missing the gym.